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Perez Line

09/07/2023 11:09

After Spanish Civil War and with the uncertain evolution of World War II in Europe, the new Spanish fascist government decided to create a defensive line along the Pyrenees to prevent a potential invasion into the peninsula. Between 1944 and 1957 the new regime invested a disconcertingly...

Stavkirkes, the Dragon Churches

11/10/2022 16:45

In Denmark and Sweden, as in other Northern Europe regions, old churches progressively replaced by stone buildings, however the tradition of building them out of wood endured in Norway and admirably revived in the 12th century. They are characterized by the lines of their roofs evoking, someway,...

Jordaan

05/03/2021 09:40

This neighbourhood located to the west of the Dutch city has gone from being an inhospitable slum to a desired residential area exempt of the tourist massification of the urban centre along a slow process of gentrification. At the moment Jordaan belongs to the district Amsterdam-Centrum and forms...

Visions of Paris

07/08/2020 10:25

The first vision of Paris is a stamp, a postage stamp, properly la poste. Well, and more specifically a red one dot seventy-franc stamp, with the cross that in the Rennes monument celebrates, I mean commemorates, the death of Joan of Arc. The postmark is from the post office on rue de la Tremoille,...

Collioure's Belfry

09/07/2020 09:51

At Boramar’s beach northern tip, Notre Dame des Anges church bell tower is the main landmark of Côte Vermeille most visited town. It does not only show the hours, it has also marked the rhythm of the changes town has lived along history. Anyone strolling along the sidewalk, bordering the seashore...

London's Two Most Unfortunate Years

17/04/2020 09:13

In the seventeenth century two fateful years were inscribed in the history of the British capital hurting mercilessly its population and its goods. It was 1665, the year of the Plague followed by that of the Great Fire, 1666. London retained its medieval urban structure within the walled...

Beer's Madonna

03/04/2020 13:19

The Bank House is a small bed and breakfast strategically located on the main street of Beer. The affable Bob Pearse every morning gently bend over backwards to serve the full English breakfast, i.e. two eggs any style, bacon, sausage, beans, mushrooms and tomatoes, usually parboiled or fried....

The Gran Duchy

24/01/2020 12:26

When in the tenth century Sigfried Count exchanged some lands in the Ardennes for a rocky ledge between the Alzette and Petrusse rivers to build a fortress, he couldn’t imagine how it would grow. Bastions and casemates turned the rock into a gruyere that would be nicknamed the Gibraltar of the...

Caldes Modern Style Spas

20/12/2019 13:56

In Roman times, the hot springs invited the creation of a town, Aqvae Calidae, today Caldes de Malavella. Its waters continue to be exploited, both for treatments and for bottling water. Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, they attracted the attention of wealthy...

Antigone

23/10/2019 19:28

Sophocles’ classic tragedy gave name to a newly created neighbourhood east of Montpellier’s old town; a reinterpretation of the architectural classicism that emerged in the late seventies from the Catalan architect Ricard Bofill’s workshop. According to Greek mythology Antigone was sentenced to...

Ένα μηδέν ένα (101)

27/09/2019 10:18

An anthology of contemporary Greek poetry, the number of a hotel room and other diverse coincidences make up a kind of casuistry, a dose of Hellenistic serendipity. Ένα μηδέν ένα, ena miden ena, 101, is a compilation of poems of one hundred and one Greek authors, a selection and translation by the...

Lewis Chess

06/09/2019 08:34

Lewis is the largest of the Hebrides Islands, west of Scotland and, even to the west of it, in the Bay of Uig, a curious treasure was found in 1831. Seventy-eight outstanding 12th century chess pieces carved in ivory. In fact, they are ninety-three pieces, since, in addition to the figures, finely...

A Walk around Philopappos

10/08/2019 09:54

Athenian Acropolis faces a large green area which, in the heart of the Greek capital, becomes a relaxed space where walk away from the urban bustle and beneath the shade of holm oaks and cypress trees. It is Philopappos Hill. From here there are privileged views over the Parthenon, Athens and even...

Las Ruinas de Corbera

03/05/2019 08:59

Corbera de Ebro se arremolinaba en torno a la colina de la Muntera protegida por las sierras de Cavalls y de Pàndols. La Batalla del Ebro devastó la población expulsando a la mayor parte de sus habitantes. Hoy, como Belchite u otros escenarios de la Guerra Civil, se han mantenido las ruinas para el...

The Ruins of Corbera

03/05/2019 08:52

Corbera d’Ebre swirled around Muntera hill protected by the mountains of Cavalls and Pandols. The Battle of the Ebro devastated the town routing most of the inhabitants. Today, as Belchite or other scenes of the Spanish Civil War before, the ruins have remained to keep the memory alive. It was...